Click the + to expand each step.

+ Step 1 - Technical Requirements

The QuaranTUNE Dulcimer Festival is a “virtual” event. We will be using ZOOM to connect participants and instructors for over 450 hours of music and learning around the globe. Please read through the technical requirements and check your internet speed below.

You will need a desktop computer, a laptop computer, or a mobile device with speakers, and connection to the Internet. Zoom says you need internet speed of at least 1.5 Mbps. We believe your experience will be much better with at least 5 Mbps. For reference, high speed internet is 25 Mbps.

If you want to be able to interact with your instructor and have them see you, you will need a device with a microphone and camera. If you do not have a camera and microphone, you will still be able to watch and hear the sessions as well as type questions and comments into the written discussion.

Check Your Internet Speed Here

+ Step 2 - Plan to Participate

ZOOM If you have an appropriate internet speed and a device to watch your workshops, you can participate in QDF! As was stated before, ZOOM will be the platform we use for workshops & concerts. You can start today by downloading Zoom onto the device you plan to use for watching workshops. Zoom is FREE and you do not need an account. You may wish to create one, but it will not be required. If you try to download Zoom and are asked to pay, you are not downloading the correct application.

For video tutorials for downloading and updating Zoom click here. Please keep in mind that we will offer other forms of orientation, but the first step is getting the application downloaded.

Support the Festival by ordering a T-Shirt A notice will go out when t-shirts are available. We are waiting till after registration opens to releast t-shirts. To order a shirt, click here.

Need an Instrument or accessories before the fest?

QDF is also supported by the finest dulcimer builders in the world. On the homepage, and at the bottom of every page on this website are sponsors who will be glad to help you with purchasing anything you may need prior to the festival.

Watch for Updates.

Subscribe to our emails (homepage), view our announcements, and join our facebook community. Please keep in mind, all information that is available WILL be posted on this website. The announcements page is a good place to start. If you don’t see workshop schedules, that’s because they haven’t been published yet. When they are published, they will be VERY easy to find on this website. We promise! When we are ready to share the registration date, it will be VERY easy to find on this website.

+ Step 3 - Plan Your Workshops

Once workshop schedules are available, they will be linked in the main navigation of this website.

Info About Workshops

The Price Per Workshop is $10. Workshops will be offered ala carte and your $10 will go directly to the instructor.
Look at the Workshop Levels Guide to see where you fit. You probably won’t fit perfectly into any specific level, but you may see where you best fit. We advise bracketing your level and then considering workshops a level above or below the level where you feel you are the closest match. If you see something that sparks your interest, but it is a couple levels beyond where you are, you can still sign up and you may still take away a lot! Don’t let our levels guide completely dictate your schedule. But know that our instructors are doing their best to teach workshops geared toward the Workshop Levels Guide.
Each workshop has a size limit of 30 participants to ensure an experience as close to an in-person festival as possible. We have added new instructors and even more workshop offerings to help even MORE dulcimer players and accommodate a larger audience. There will be no shortage of excellent options.
MOST IMPORTANTLY: Keep your eyes open and make sure your workshops are not the same session number because that means they are at the same time!!!
Do not purchase duplicates of the same workshop. All item quantities should be 1.
Because class sizes are limited, have a backup plan or two prepared for each time-slot you wish to register for. Some workshops are expected to fill up fast.
Please read our Important Disclosures regarding refunds. Don’t sign up for a workshop if you know you will not be able to attend.

We will have a handy worksheet to help you in planning your workshop schedule. This will be available at the same time as the Workshop Schedules and Descriptions.

+ Step 4 - Register for Workshops

Registration opening for each even will be posted prior to the event. Registration will be fair and will be made available to everyone at the same time.

Our workshops registration process is very simple. You can create an account in advance and register a payment method so that you are ready to register. (Note: This is NOT required. If you do not feel comfortable creating an account or saving a payment method, you can still check out as a “guest”.) Workshops that are close to selling out will be marked, so you will know when you add the item to your cart if there are only a few spots left. If you have an account, you will be able to review your orders on our website after you have registered.

If a workshop you wanted is sold out, we understand that you may feel frustrated by the class-size limitations, but getting angry or disrespectful to our volunteers is not helpful to anyone. We have many reasons for limiting class sizes and there will be no shortage of options for anyone. This is an opportunity to try something new that you might not have considered. If your interest is solely in taking workshops from one particular instructor without exceptions, and you find their workshops have sold out, please visit that instructor’s website and see what they have available as far as private lessons or online subscriptions.

You will also receive an order confirmation via e-mail that you can reference if you do not want to create an account. Do NOT delete your order confirmation.

You will be asked to watch a detailed video tutorial prior to registering for your workshops.

Note: If you have an account (optional) workshops purchases will be available for you to view in your account. They will appear as “pending” until the festival is complete.

+ Step 4.5 - Add On

Once you have registered, you can purchase concert tickets or more workshops later. You do not need to register for everything all at once. If you see something later on that looks interesting, you can sign up for workshops until registration closes.

Registration closing will be clearly posted on the homepage and emails will be sent. You can still purchase concert tickets after registration closes.

+ Step 5 - Get Ready for the Festival!

Don’t forget to purchase Concert Tickets!

Things to do while waiting for the festival:

Order a t-shirt or sweatshirt
See step 4.5 😉
Get Zoom downloaded
Watch the video tutorials we have provided on Zoom (or visit Zoom.us and watch some of their tutorials)
See if a friend or family member wants to Zoom with you - It’s a great way to catch up with friends and get practice before QDF.
Ask QDF staff for help with Zoom - We will help you!
Shop the sponsors
Join the conversation in our Facebook group
If you haven’t already, make yourself an easy to follow schedule so that you will be super organized at festival time. You can check them off as you receive invitations so you know when you have everything you need.
Add info@virtualdulcimerfest.com to your email contacts to maybe help prevent our emails from getting filtered by your email service. (Do not email us at this address. Use the contact page of this website.)

Workshop Invitations:

After registration closes, instructors will be notified about their class lists and will start sending out their workshop invitations. These invitations will be sent directly from the instructors to you via e-mail. They will contain links to your workshops and these links will NOT be posted anywhere publicly. Don’t delete these emails. Get familiar with your “junk”, “bulk”, “spam”, and “promotions” folders in your inbox because they might go there!

Check the website homepage to find out when your invitations will arrive. If you do not receive ALL of your workshop invitations by that date, you can contact us via our contact page on our website and let us know which ones you are missing. If you are a member of the facebook group, you may see posts and announcements from various instructors when they have sent their invites. If you see that an instructor has sent theirs but you haven't received yours, contact us. In either case, be sure you know the day and session number of the workshop you are missing. (Make sure you have confirmation for the registration. You won’t be able to track down an invite to a workshop you never signed up for.)

Do not share your workshop invitations with anybody else. You paid for them and it’s unfair to everyone if you share the links with your friends. It will be immediately clear to your instructor during the workshop if there are extra people in the class, and not too difficult to trace the source after the fact.

Concert Tickets:

Concerts will be conducted in Zoom and information on how access links will be distributed will be posted when concert tickets go on sale. We will sell tickets right up till the Sunday Concerts and the automated system for emailing confirmations works, but not if you type the wrong email address. We will all be busy running a festival and will NOT be able to help you if you make a mistake. So please be careful!

Prepare Your Inbox: Tips from Jess Dickinson on how to organize your e-mails

Prepare an email folder where you will save the class emails from your instructors.

You will receive an email from each instructor with a link to their class and attachments of their class materials. Print the class materials and save the emails in your “Class” email folder for easy reference when the workshops begin.

A few minutes before each class is to begin, open the email from the instructor for that class, click the link in the instructor’s email, and follow the simple instructions.

+ Step 6 - Attend the Virtual Festival

After registration closes, you will receive a “Welcome Letter” from us. This will contain important links to the Help Desk and other important information. Don’t delete this e-mail. It may go to your Spam or Promotions folder. We will announce on this website and on Facebook when this email has been sent.

Get out your schedule, keep those Zoom workshop invitations handy and join your workshops when it is time. Have fun!!!

Concerts:

Concert ticket holders will be provided with access links immediately upon purchase of their tickets.

We will announce any more fun festival events on the announcements page and via facebook and e-mail, so keep your eyes open for updates and activities.

Important Disclosures

Online events depend on the use of email.

We send the information to you, but we have no control of what your email service does with them.

Please keep track of your emails. Learn where your spam/junk/promotions/bulk folders are. Get acquainted with the “search” function in your inbox. If you’re comfortable using folders to stay organized, do it. If you want to create a gmail address that is dedicated to your participation in virtual events (and you trust yourself to remember the password), go for it.

Whatever email address you use when you check-out is the email address your invitations will go to. Type carefully! We will help you if you make a typo, but if you register and then suddenly decide you want to use a different email, we can’t entertain those types of requests. You’ll just have to use the email address you signed up with.

Because our checkout process is very secure, we can’t modify the email address on any order. This means we have to keep track of every single wrong email address and change them manually before sending out the invitations. It’s a lot of extra work over a typo.

During this time of uncertainty, we want to make sure the participating professional musicians get as much out of this as possible. That has always been our mission.

We are a very small group of people serving a very large audience. If everyone follows our guidance, types their email addresses correctly, understands how to search their inboxes, pays attention to the emails we do send, and doesn’t delete important messages, then we can handle the issues that come up. But if too many people do not do this, then we will have to add staff and that will take money directly away from the performers and instructors who have lost so much of their income.